AIR GAS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3155, 14 May 1883, Page 3

AIR GAS.

An ingenious method of gas manufacture, resulting in a yen good light, has recently been perfected, by Colonel Chamberlain. The materials from which the gas is,made are petroleum, water, and air, and the process is simple, cleanly, and apparently safe. The petroleum, which is of-high quality, is stored in one couopartment of a divided tank, the water being: Stored in the other compartment. The generator consists of a castsiron retort, so. fixed in the body of a furnace that the heat is conducted both under and brer it, the fuel being coke. The oil and water, are fed to the retort through'pipes by. drops,, four drop's of oil being fed in to one drop of water. As the oil and water are decomposed the resulting gas is led away through a pipe to a washer. This consists ofaniron close tank' containing water and fitted with vertical divided plates, so arranged that the gas passes 1 alternately nnder and over' them through the water on its/Way to the gas-holder, where it is,Stored for/ use. As soon as a sqflicient quantity of. gas has been made and stored the, oil . and water are turned off, and.a jet of air. is forced into the retort by means of a small Root’s blower. This air is also decomposed, and, following the course «f the oil and water gas through the washer, finally joins it in the holder, having picked np on its' way any gas in the retort 'or in the washer. The air is added in the proportion of three of air to one of gas already made. The resulting gas is said to be of 21 candle-power, and to possess the qualities of elasticity, and permanence.. Various, trials have shown it to be a good travelling- gas and free from humidity and deposit. >lt is reported to contain no salphur, 'and only a trace of carbonic - acid, to 'deposit ho soot or other impurity in use, and to cost only Is 6d per 1000,cubic feet to produce, all expenses ..ipcluded. 1 These good points—save 'that of cost—arefor the most,part demonstrated by. means of a gas producer which has been fitted up at No. 10 Lower Belgrave street* Eaton-sqnare. The furnace is about three feet square in plan and four feet high, and is stated to be capable of producing 100 cubic feet of gas per hour. The good quality of the light is shown by color tests, and its innocuous character by the healthiness of some plants and shrubs, which are unaffected by its daily manufacture and use. It bas already been adopted in one. country mansion, and there is no apparent reason why, with care in manufacture, it should not do good service where coal gas or other sources of artificial light is either expensive or unobtainable.

Tickets for "Chilperic” are going off fast, and those desirous of securing seats in; the dress circle and stalls should apply at once.

. The Ugglan still lies at anchor ready for 'sea, and the barque Salado has almost completed her loading, having only four hundred additional sacks to take on board.

Robinson, the wrestler, has claim'd and obtained the stakes forfeited by Hudson through his accident, but a match will be arranged for a future date. At a sale of racehorses at Messrs Miles and Co.’s repository, Christchurch, on -aturday morning. RVir Pey was knocked down to Mr J Powell for 140 gs Holderness and Nonpariel were passed in at 70gs and IClgs respectively

Mr Ogilvie, the contractor for the concrete flooring of the new railway engine shed, has a 1! but completed his work. The shed is a most spacious and convenient one, and a portion of it is to be floored and divided off as a workshop for the fitters and other mechanics of the railway service.

The “ Hereford Times” of February 24 contains the following advertisement ** Ann Jones wants to sell her child (a little girl) ; it is twelve months old ; shall be sold for jEI 10s to anyone who will be good to it. Address, Ann Jones, Westington, Billfield, near Leominster.’’ ; It appears by the above that children are to he bought in Herefordshire for about the same price as mutton, viz., Is per lb. ■,.. ■ N ; Recently in Wanganui a gentleman was stopped in the street by a person of the loafer type who requested the lean of a sixpence; The reply was that he had nothing but a half-crown, but perhaps bis interlocutor had change. The bait took splendidly. The man pulled out a twoshilling piece, at the sight of which our friend pocketed his r half-crown, silently crediting himself with exposing " another fraud”

The Home Office are bu*y experimentalising on a harmless looking jelly, which, notwithstanding its “innocent appea ance, might make considerable commotion in the household if by any accident it got amongst a good wife’s jam pots,' for itsqualities• are ; not so much tho.se of. a preserve ”as a des*royer. This jelly is panclastite, the « all ’ smasher,” Whose explosive powers are such that , they put dynamic altogether in the shade. The concern of the Home Office is to ascertain accurately the dangerous properties of the article; and not only to keep it onf of confections of,.,any kind, but mete out drastic penalties on all who do not convey it by rail or ship properly labelled .-and wi'.h iright side up. v

' The Roman Catholics of Dunedin are signing the following petition to Parliament:: —“That your petitioners are .conscientiously opposed to the system of public education established in ■this- colony. That they have in consequence established; Roman Catholic schools and maintainthem at their own expense. That under these Circumstances they find themselves aggrieved at being compelled to Contribute to maintain a system ol education . from which they derive no advantage, which puls i them at a great and which is practically the cause of their being subjected to double taxation* That they are persuaded one of two.: things should be done, if they are to be treated according to justice and equity, viz.—Their schools should be put on a footing of r equality with public schools, or they should be exempted from taxation for public school purposes. That they respectfully pray your Honorable Bouse to take the premises into ; consideration, and devise such measures as will secure to the Roman Catholics o£>New ( Zealand justice and equitable treatment.”